Total Access Communication Plc (DTAC) has launched a new incubator campaign called DTAC Accelerate Creator with the aim of turning youngsters into professional content creators.
"The company foresees opportunities to have younger users create videos about the DTAC brand to communicate with users. This is a digital strategy to reach millennial users," said Panthep Nilasintop, acting chief of digital for DTAC.
A Google study shows Thailand is one of top 10 countries in terms of YouTube viewership time.
In February and June this year, DTAC organised YouTube Hackathon competitions, where participants made videos about the telecom company.
Presenting video stories about the company by amateurs is an efficient method, as they have a higher click-through rate of 70%, compared with about 40% for content made by PR agencies, he said.
Users watch amateur videos for an average of 3-5 minutes, up from the average for ads of 30 seconds.
Roughly one-third of DTAC's advertising budget is allotted to digital channels.
In Thailand, the telecoms sector is a big spender. Overall Thailand digital advertising spending is anticipated to be 15 billion baht this year, according to the Digital Advertising Association Thailand.
Mr Panthep said the launch of intensive training and a boot camp for DTAC Accelerate Creators will help attract a new crop of creators.
Moreover, the new creators could benefit by using DTAC's platforms to promote their own YouTube channels.
The DTAC Accelerate Creator campaign will train participants on storytelling, producing and editing videos, including how to gain followers among other skills.
Google Thailand will be an adviser for the course.
Mr Panthep said trained creators could earn money and work in the field. However, content creators need to learn further skills and how to work with brands.
Moreover, they needs to learn how to promote their YouTube Channel globally and legally as there are an average of 570,000 hours of video uploaded to YouTube each day.
According to TNS survey, over 90% of Thai internet surfers use YouTube. More than 75% watch content via YouTube every day, with average daily usage time of over two hours.
The company plans to promote the campaign at five universities, but the campaign is open for interested students, who will be selected for 16 teams at a five-week boot camp.
Ben King, country director of Google Thailand, said Thailand is still among the top 10 countries in terms of watch hours.
Thailand also has 150 Gold Channels, or channels that have over 1 million subscribers. Globally, there are 1.9 billion YouTube users.
